Tranquilandia raid

The Tranquilandia raid occurred on 10 March 1984 when the Colombian Army raided the Tranquilandia drug lab in Medellin, Colombia.

Background
In 1984, the Medellin Cartel drug-smuggling pilot Barry Seal was arrested by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agency, and he turned states to avoid a long jail sentence. He provided proof that communist governments such as Nicaragua and Cuba allowed narcotics traffickers to use their airfields, leading to the United States president Ronald Reagan stating that communism and narcotic trafficking were the same. This led to Reagan giving unlimited funds to the DEA, with the US Southern Command in Panama giving care packages to the DEA and Colombian Army to hunt down the drug traffickers. The Colombian Army launched several raids in the jungles, destroying several drug labs and confiscating over $1,000,000,000 worth of cocaine. Eventually, the Colombians hit the jackpot when they traced barrels of ether (one of the key cocaine-making ingredients) to the drug lab of Tranquilandia in Medellin, and they prepared for a raid.

Raid
On 10 March 1984, units of the Colombian national police and some DEA agents assaulted the raid, making good use of Seal's intelligence. The ensuing gun battle cost dozens of men, but police were able to gun down the Medellin Cartel henchmen and take over the facility. The police achieved the complete destruction of the complex and 13.8 metric tons of cocaine, worth $1,200,000,000. Shortly after the raid, the DEA captured Carlos Lehder, a key member of the Medellin Cartel; he was immediately extradited to the United States per the US-Colombia extradition treaty, and he was sentenced to life in prison, plus 135 years.